Published on Jan 16, 2019
Andrew Wheeler, the EPA’s acting head, appeared before a Senate committee for confirmation hearings in his bid to keep the position on a permanent basis. But the government shutdown has brought many of the EPA’s daily operations to a halt, so most safety and pollution inspections are skipped. Judy Woodruff looks at reporting by Coral Davenport of The New York Times and the AP’s Ellen Knickmeyer.
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Published on Jan 14, 2019
David Laufman, former chief of the DOJ’s counterintelligence and export control section, talks with Rachel Maddow about why he’s speaking out about the risk posed by Donald Trump to the national security of the United States.
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Published on Jan 16, 2019
Rachel Maddow looks at mounting evidence of Donald Trump policy inclinations lining up with the wildest anti-American, anti-Western dreams of Vladimir Putin as Donald Trump reportedly tries to obscure his personal interactions with Putin.
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Published on Jan 16, 2019
The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from veterans who had sued defense contractors over claims that toxic smoke from open burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan caused them serious health problems. One of the contractors, KBR, countered that waste elimination procedures were directed by the military itself. As Hari Sreenivasan reports, the afflicted soldiers have no remaining legal recourse.
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Thom Hartmann Program
Published on Jan 16, 2019
Donald Trump’s pick for Attorney General William Barr played a key role in the Iran-Contra Affair, namely suggesting that George H. W. Bush pardon the guilty parties. Did the republicans bring Barr back from political obscurity so he can help another president guilty of treason escape justice again? Is William Barr, Donald Trump’s pick for Attorney General, the man who suggested to George H.W. Bush that he pardon six people in the Iran-Contra Affair, which ended the Weinberger Trial, do it again with the Mueller investigation? Will William Barr end the Mueller Investigation?
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In environmental news, the Associated Press is reporting the Environmental Protection Agency referred just 166 pollution cases for prosecution in 2018, the lowest number in 30 years. The executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the group which released the data, said, “You don’t get closer to the core of EPA’s mission than enforcing the law. We’re reaching levels where the enforcement program is lacking a pulse.”
Jan 15, 2019
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Jan 16, 2019
The World Food Program has cut aid to Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, citing a critical lack of funds. The WFP said this week more than 25,000 Palestinians will no longer receive aid; a further 165,000 Palestinians will see their food aid slashed by 20 percent. Last year, the Trump administration eliminated more than a half-billion dollars in aid to the Palestinians; aid groups are warning further planned cuts threaten new projects including a playground for Gaza children and new infrastructure to provide clean water to Gaza homes.
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Democracy Now!Published on Jan 16, 2019
https://democracynow.org – Senate confirmation hearings began Tuesday for William Barr, President Trump’s nominee for attorney general to replace Jeff Sessions. Barr served as attorney general for George H.W. Bush from 1991 to 1993. During that time, he was involved in the pardon of six Reagan officials for the Iran-Contra scandal and oversaw the opening of the Guantánamo Bay military prison, which was initially used to indefinitely detain Haitian asylum seekers. Barr also openly backed mass incarceration at home and helped develop a secret Drug Enforcement Administration program which became a “blueprint” for the National Security Agency’s mass phone surveillance effort. But on Tuesday, senators asked few questions about Barr’s past record while focusing heavily on his views about special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. We look at Barr’s history with David Cole, national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. His recent article for the ACLU is titled “No Relief: William Barr Is as Bad as Jeff Sessions—if Not Worse.” We also speak with Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
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Climate State
Published on Jan 16, 2019
November 8, 2018 – Tim Lenton of University of Exeter presents “Tipping Points in Climate and Biosphere Function”.
Release via the National Academy of Sciences https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F4ET…
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WGBHForum
Published on Dec 21, 2018
WGBH’s 2018 Innovation IdeaLab convened powerful writers, grassroots activists, economists, architects and green designers around the theme of The Changemakers for the popular day-long gathering supported by The Kendeda Fund. The purpose of the IdeaLab is to plant new stories for public media, with sessions ranging from Saving Nature, Saving Ourselves; to The Future of Work; and Designing Green and Equitable Communities.
In This Session:
» Michael Murphy, Architect & CEO, MASS Design Group
» Yorman Nuñez, Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative; MIT CoLab; Grist 50 Fixer
» Damon Rich, Designer, Urban Planner, & Partner, Hector Design; MacArthur Fellow
» Karilyn Crockett, Author, People Before Highways; MIT Urban Studies and Planning
WGBH Forum Network ~ Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas
See:
http://forum-network.org/lectures/designing-green-and-equitable-communities/
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Transition Studies 